Thai-American BMX racer Amanda Carr on Wednesday grabbed a ninth gold for Thailand, winning the women's motos racing event at the Asian Games.
Thai-American cyclist Amanda Carr wins Thailand's ninth gold medal at the Incheon Games on Wednesday. (Photos by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
The 24-year-old World ranked No15 BMX racer finished first in all three rounds in the race with an overall time of 37.328 minutes, beating China’s second-paced Lu Yan by only 0.628 minutes.
Another Chinese cyclist, Peng Na, picked up the bronze medal with a time of 39.481, beating five other competitors from host South Korea, Japan and Indonesia, including Amanda’s teammate Duangkamol Thongmee, who came last in the group.
After winning the gold, Amanda told reporters in the Isan dialect that she was not physically well a few months before the race and was worried she would not be able to win gold for Thailand.
“But now I’m very glad. It’s like a dream, but it’s become real,” the ecstatic Florida-born athlete said.
Amanda aims to represent Thailand in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It was the second gold for the Thai cycling team at the Incheon Asian Games. The team has outdone its expectations, looking for only one gold from the event.
Jutathip Maneephan earlier won the women's cycling road race to clinch the country's fifth gold medal. The Roi-et native had enough energy left at the end of the 126km rain-soaked race to outsprint her competitors to the finish line.
As of 5pm, Thailand was placed seventh in the overall medal tally with nine gold, six silver and 23 bronze.
China leads, followed by Korea and then Japan, with Kazakhstan in fourth place.
Amanda: It's like a dream, but it's become real. (TPBS video)